Has this happened to you ?

[PeterBJ]

These problems with ink drying out in the sponges could lead to the idea of sealing the vent with tape.

For cartridges refilled using the German method this is definitely a no-no. The cartridge will likely leak through the German refill hole.

I don't know about cartridges that are top filled. When you seal the vent on a cartridge and the barometric pressure drops, then air or ink from the cartridge will seek the easiest way out, and are the the top fill hole seal, the ink outlet seal, and the vent seal all strong enough to resist the air or ink? Canon's factory ink outlet seal and the sealing tape on top of the cartridge are probably welded using an ultrasonic technology. I see no way a home refiller can replicate that.

A clamp type device sealing the ink outlet and the vent might possibly be used successfully on cartridges that are refilled using the Freedom method or traditional vacuum refill method, as no holes or seals are added to the cartridge. Maybe a storage clip plus aluminium tape could also be used? This would be more handy.

I think this means storing the cartridges in an (almost) airtight food container with a source of water vapour might be an option. To avoid mould growth on moistened paper, alcohol or a disinfectant could be added to the water. Maybe using an inorganic material to store the water is better, for instance a small piece of a brick or similar. You could then boil this to kill bacteria or spores, before use.

I have stored refilled HP combined sponge/print head cartridges in a such container. In some cases I had mould growth on the moistened paper, in other cases the moistened paper was dry after a couple of months.

I don't know the ideal solution to the storage problem, but I remember @Smile had a thread about this problem some time ago.

 

[Methodical]

That's a lot of inks to keep up with. I currently am only refilling the Pro 100. I am going to get the refill kit for the Epson R1900 and Workforce 610 (general purpose printer). My wife and kids were putting a killing on those inks. I wish I knew about refilling. I will also get the kit for the Canon MG6320 (my general purpose printer). I only plan to have the one refill carts for the general purpose printer.

 

[The Hat]

The real problems I see with my refilling is I guess I’ve gotten to careless and nearly always end up letting too much ink saturate the top sponge.

I reckon if I can start again slowly get it right the first time and every time after that then this ink flow issue won’t be a constant pain, it’s slightly amazing how I am able to tell others how to do it properly but can’t be bother to do the same myself.

I have literally filled hundreds of cartridge by now and have gotten into some extremely bad habits that I now find hard to break, even dough I am making a total cocks elbow refilling some but not all thankfully.

Laziness sure does take a lot of time to get perfect with, but I seem to have accomplish it with ease somehow now I find I am having to purge a cartridge more than once before I can get it to work properly again.

When I do finally manage do teach myself how to refill properly again then I will be able to go back to keeping two or three spare sets as back up..

 

[PeterBJ]

I have also had problems with refilling, but when using the German method. I'm sure some of the problems are caused by the newer windowed and opaque cartridges being more fragile than the older transparent cartridges, but by studying pharmacist's instruction again I found i had overlooked or forgotten some vital details, see this post: http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/a-german-refill-problem.7328/page-3#post-56234

There are variations to all refill methods, and the two main variations of the top fill method is sealing the vent or not. To avoid over saturating the upper sponge you could give mikling's version a try: http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/top-filling-method-for-canon-cartridges.5534/#post-40047 This is the version of the top fill method I prefer, and for refilling the opaque Canon PGI-x25/CLI-x26 cartridges and HP 364/564 XL cartridges I use an added step of using a wooden cocktail stick to gauge the cartridge for when I should seal the vent.

Over saturating the upper sponge may not take place even if it looks so, and as long as no ink gets into the vent maze, there may be no problem. This post has a link to a download of an excellent photo series by mikling that demonstrates that: http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/do-i-have-a-problem-with-dry-sponges.6058/page-7#post-45172 . The whole lengthy thread is certainly worth reading, it has a wealth of information about Canon cartridges and refill methods :
http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/do-i-have-a-problem-with-dry-sponges.6058/

Canon OEM cartridges have no use by date, but the user manuals for the printers state that once installed a cartridge should be used up within 6 months, so maybe nothing is wrong with your refill technique, but refilled cartridges maybe should not be stored more than 6 months or even less?

 

[The Hat]

I think in my case it’s don’t shot the messenger, because I am the problem I have been getting away with poor refilling practice for years and only because my working environment has changed it has now shown up the my silly refilling procedures.

I know some of my cartridges are ten years old so getting new empties won’t solve the way I refill without me changing my stupid habits first, I should have used @pharmacist cartridge conditioner a number of times in the past but always put it on the long finger by saying I’ll do it on the next refill.

I do think my problem was purely down to the oversaturation of the top sponge every time I refilled but it never bother me before this so I just got use to doing it, it’s not like I don’t know how to refill and need a tutorial or a new refilling technique, just a complete rethink should do it I reckon..

 

[fotofreek]

i have had great refilling success over the past 6+ years. i take the "least effort approach", or more accurately stated "the lazy approach".

i do not keep a spare set of refilled carts. i have just one set of drilled carts, when i need to refill one i take them all out of the printer, reset them and then refill/top off each of them. i use the german method, squeeze bottles, re-setter, good quality ink and print every day.

In a recent post I mentioned the technique that Neil Slade described more than ten years ago. I called it "refilling on the fly." Since they were BCI-6 carts there was no need to reset. Neil removed the cart from the printer, put a finger over the ink outlet port (gloved in my case), opened the fill hole, top filled the cart, replaced the plug into the fill hole, let the cart finish dripping, replaced the cart into the printer, and continued to print. He used silicone plugs that were available at that time from Computer Friends. This is the same approach that Jimbo123 is using.

I used that technique for a few years until my volume of printing made it more convenient to have one or more backup sets, especially for long print runs. My concern about this technique was that the cart is out of the printer longer than it would be if there were a backup refilled cart, and I was concerned that some drying would occur at the printhead inlet screen.

I do feel more comfortable refilling several carts at a time over our kitchen sink rather than at my desk, over wall-to-wall carpet. I've never had an accident refilling, but I did have a luerlock cap on a squeeze bottle that stretched. I am now in the habit of checking that the needle hub is secure in the cap before injecting ink. What a mess that would be if the needle hub disengaged from the cap when the squeeze bottle is inverted while squeezing it to do a refill!

 

[PeterBJ]

I think in my case it’s don’t shot the messenger, because I am the problem I have been getting away with poor refilling practice for years and only because my working environment has changed it has now shown up the my silly refilling procedures.

As your cartridges performed flawlessly when you printed a lot, so refilled cartridges were not stored for a long time, I think that the problem is a storage problem and not a refill problem. As we cannot replicate Canon's factory sealing of cartridges I think that the shelf life of a refilled cartridge is 6 months like for an installed Canon OEM cartridge, maybe even shorter.

Jimbo123 prints a lot regularly and refills cartridges when needed and doesn't store refilled cartridges. I think this is the key to successfully refilling a cartridge more than 100 times. I think the no storage time and regular printing is more important here than the refill method used.

 

[The Hat]

I would tend agree in one sense about the storage but maybe Canons two sponge method might also have something to do with it.

You can store a Canon cartridge indefinitely unopened and the top sponge is usually clear of ink but most of mine are saturated almost to the top of the sponge, then when they are stored in that condition for long periods they are more lightly to have flow problems.

I have decided to continue to store some if not all my cartridge but only after I purge the empties as I use them and then prevent the top sponge from filling with ink, if it doesn’t work then I’ll adapt @jimbo123 method of only using one cartridge at a time..

 

[MP640]

Could the ink flow issues be caused by purging? Ever since I started to purge my cartridges I see flow problems every now and then. Mostly with magenta. Maybe the purge process somehow damages the sponge?

It would be interesting to know whether members who don't purge their carts also have flow problems?

Question: is it normal that there is underpressure in the sponge chamber? Occasionally, when I open up the refill hole of a cart that still has ink in the chamber, all ink gets sucked into the sponge.

 

[barfl2]

I normally keep about 3 sets of 520/521 carts refilled but like others have experienced flow problems and have always stored filled carts in air tight food containers. I am coming around to jimbo 123 method of filling an always WET FOAM cart. which certainly works wonders for him.

My printing has been even lighter of late, in fact the two problem colours cyan/magenta are working very nicely on IJT compatibles with very good nozzle checks, even the small scratch type lines in magenta have gone. So I think a new set of ink/purged/conditioned carts may be required.

When a refill is required pop in an old cart to stop air drying the pick up, fill the just removed cart and put back into printer when filled by preferred method.

Worth a try I think